Jude Smith

There is no hashtag on the front of this: mainly because this isn’t a piece about a one day wonder of prayer following something tragic. This is a piece about the alarming trajectory of Russian foreign policy and how I might respond. A caveat. I don’t know enough about Russia to write this entirely from intellect. I do know a bit about twentieth century world history though. Anyway: A UK minister has warned about Russia’s expansionist ambition: suggesting that the Baltic states are next after a comprehensive subjugation of Ukraine. The same day, RAF jets are scrambled to get a look at Russian aircraft off the Cornish coast. This is the second time in a couple of months that UK airspace has been titillated by Russian jets. The last time they caused considerable disruption to UK air traffic. So far so Top Gun. As I’ve said, I don’t know much about Russia: please recommend some books.. But, I know that in some Russian thinking, the greater Russia (the old USSR) has never been...

I've held off from talking about my thinking on the Green Report: mainly because I haven’t read it. However, I’m dipping my toe in the water of comment because of today. Today, I spent the morning presiding at a communion for a Church Of England Academy where I have been invited onto the trust board. From there I went 200 yards up the hill to one of my parish buildings where I talked with the congregation about reimagining church there. The archdeacon and I talked about how we might rework the building: what sustainability means, how we might need to get a change of use from the council. We are trying to find a way to meaningfully minister to part of the parish without losing a building to what would inevitably become flats. Then into the diocesan office for training where I caught the diocesan secretary and the registrar about the same issue. We talked about terms of lease, whether its faculty or chancellor jurisdiction. The training itself was on running a PCC and APCM...